What God Has joined together, Sermon 4 of 10
Choosing the Right Mate on the Right Road
(Children's Sheet for Sermon Interaction is at bottom. Notes for young children to answer are throughout sermon)Pastor Kerry Kinchen, Bridgeway Bible Church
This morning we are continuing with the special singles to spouse series called, "What God Has Joined Together." As we get into this teaching this morning, I want to point out something that most of us realize. Among the world, there are certain passages of Scripture that have become so famous that they get quoted as part of secular conversations. I am not talking about coming from Christians. I am talking about unsaved people using Bible quotes as proverbial kinds of cliche's. I think of statements like Jesus saying,
"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
"Love your neighbor as yourself."
"Turn the other cheek"
And then there is a famous one that lost people like to quote:
"Judge not, lest you be judged."
Think about that one for a moment. It comes from Matthew 7:1 and Luke 6:37.
"Judge not, lest you be judged."
Jesus said it when he was preaching to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. He was preaching to Old Covenant Israelites who were using the Old Covenant Law of Moses to exact personal revenge, and express a false piety. He called them hypocrites who needed to contemplate their standard of measure of judging their brothers in connection with their own sinfulness. The point is that the quote is taken out of context. Worse, it has been twisted to defend a wrong lifestyle. Maybe you have heard the phrase used in this way too. Usually it comes as a reactionary response. Somewhere the unrighteousness of someone was discerned and confronted. Generally, people are uncomfortable with being confronted, rebuked, or corrected. They may be looking for some way to counter the confrontation. Then a thought pops into their head. They say something that they think will end the matter forever like: "Judge not, lest you be judged." The reality is that godly confrontation, godly rebuke, godly correction, and godly discernment, are not the kind of judgment that Jesus was talking about. In actuality God not only does not want Christians to shut down our God given powers of discernment, but God expects us to use the gift of righteous discernment for righteous judgments. He expects us to act upon our discernment. He wants us to use the Bible as our guide in accomplishing it. When we base our discernment upon the full counsel of God, then what happens? God's precepts, principles, and wisdom, from God's word come forth to judge matters. In other words, God's word is the judge. Our part is that we are simply abiding in God's word in the process. Something else to keep in mind when we consider quoting Jesus, is that in John 7:24, Jesus actually commands to judge. In the context, He says to judge, but not according to misguided standards of good and evil. He says to judge according to true righteous judgment. Jesus meant that judgment must be done, but judging must be done in a certain way, and in a certain sense. In the context the Pharisees perceived that Jesus was doing something evil, yet the opposite was the case. They were wrong which is the reason why judgment must be according to righteous judgment. Certainly, we are limited in our judgment by our own humanity. But I want us to think about something: The righteous judgment of God's word is limited only by your misuse of it, or your nonuse of it. This is important for our subject this morning, so I want us to keep these things in mind as we prepare our hearts to learn from this sermon titled,
What God Has joined together, Sermon 4 of 10
"Choosing the Right Mate on the Right Road"
[prayer]
One of the most important questions a single person contemplating marriage can ask is:
"Who is truly right to be a potential mate?"
In the earlier teaching in this sermon series, I taught the foundational biblical principle that whenever one Christian single marries another Christian single, they have married the exact person that God has for them, and you can be absolutely sure that their marriage has been destined, designed, and developed by creator God, and is perfect. This principle is true, but it does not narrow down the process of identification. To move toward getting the right answer to who is truly right to be a potential mate, we are going to need to carefully apply further righteous judgment that is based on the word of God.
/1/
This leads to the first point. A right mate can be described in a certain manner from the Scriptures:
{A}
Foremost, a right mate is someone that God has made right.
This is the starting point. Let's think about this as a foundation for the choice. I want us to consider that for someone to be right before God, that person's old un-right nature (which is the reproduced image of the first man, Adam) must be crucified with Christ. Then Christ's righteousness must be imputed to the person. This spiritual action, in Christ, describes a real, miraculous, change. It is how someone is regenerated. Whenever someone is regenerated in Christ, they become the righteousness of God in Him. This is important because a right mate choice must be a choice of a righteous mate. It is not that the person makes their self right. It is not that they merely think that they are a good person or something like that. It is that God has already made them right as a miracle work He has accomplished. Scriptural insight into the prerequisite for the making of a righteous mate is seen in a declaration that I want to make. It is based upon Galatians 2:20, and 2 Corinthians 5:17-21. Listen carefully, because this scriptural declaration is vital for choosing a right mate:
Christians have been crucified with Christ and though they live, it is no longer they, but Christ living within them; and that life they now live in the flesh, they live by faith in the Son of God who loved them and gave Himself on their behalf. Therefor if any one is in Christ, that one is a new creature, old things have passed away and all things have become new. All this is because God has made Him who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we would become the righteousness of God in Him. (cf. Galatians 2:20, and 2 Corinthians 5:17-21)
What I have just shared is totally Scriptural. It is the miracle. In other words, God wants single Christians to pursue marrying a miracle. We must not settle for anything less. I want us to especially be mindful of the important punctuation about becoming
"... the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Corinthians 5:21
The miracle is able to be recognized because the person is in Christ to begin with. So first we must recognize the premiere starting point: A right mate is someone that God has made right through Jesus Christ.
{B}
Next there is another thing that is tightly bound to that one. Essentially, a right mate is someone God has chosen. In other words, it is God who determines who is to be right and He relies solely upon His own counsel for His choice. So, a right mate is someone that God has made right. And a right mate is someone that God has chosen. The apostle Paul put it this way:
"For he chose us in him before the creation of the world ... he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will ... In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will" Ephesians 1:4–5, 11
1@ Christians are children of God because they have been _______________________ through Jesus Christ. Ephesians 1:4-5
A similar declaration is made in 2 Thessalonians:
"from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the setting apart work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ" 2 Thessalonians 2:13–14
2@ Christians are children of God (saved) through _________________ in the truth. Ephesians 1:4-5
What we see is that the determination is God's business. The implementation of the miracle is God's business too, which is through Christ. As we understand the two important aspects of God's choosing someone and then imputing His righteousness to them, thus making them right,
{C}
we should also be aware that faith is a central part of all of this.
"it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus" Ephesians 2:8–10
3@ It is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the _______________ of God--not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-10
The gift of faith in Christ, and our practice of it, is part of the miracle, and so we recognize that any potential mate must have vibrant faith in Christ as the sole and only Savior who saves completely. The faith must be in the sole and only work of Christ on the cross as the payment for sins. The faith must be in the fact that Christ is the only true Lord. If you have been following along very closely up to this point, then you probably have noticed something. What has just been described for us in these Scriptures is the formula for how someone becomes a Christian. It is a person who is spiritually alive. That is what I am saying when I say that the person is a miracle. They have been changed into a Christian. If you will remember, in the last sermon, we examined 2 Corinthians 6:14–17. It is an important principle about binding together with someone in marriage. We learned that according to God, a Christian should not seek to be bound together with a non-Christian in an unholy matrimony. If you'll remember, I called this the "Platinum Rule."
"Do not be unequally bound together with an unbeliever--but rather be equally bound together with a believer."
A Christian is a right person, therefore a Christian, and only a Christian, can be a right mate. This is the huge take home point. All of this is liberating for Christians who want to get married. But this is only the beginning in seeking to apply righteous judgment in determining who is truly right to be a potential mate. We want to go further in our effort to discern an individual's Christian or non-Christian status
/2/
This leads to the second point. It has to do with utilizing some witnesses for discerning an individuals Christian, or non-Christian, status, so that an unequal binding does not take place. The witnesses I am talking about, are basically the outward manifestations of Christ in a person. Paul asks,
"Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you ...?" 2 Corinthians 13:5.
@4 Jesus Christ is _______ all who are saved. 2 Corinthians 13:5
This is an important question for us to ask ourselves. It is just as important to ask if Christ is in anyone who is to be considered for marriage. So think about this in a very practical manner of application. In pursuing a righteous judgment, one of the first things we want to do is look at the personal verbal testimony of someone who may be considered for marriage.
--Verbal Testimony a--
What they confess concerning Christ is part of what helps us to determine their spiritual status in respect to marriage. The Scriptures are clear concerning this one:
"8 But what does it say? 'The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart'--that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, 9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation." Romans 10:8–10
@5 If you confess Jesus as ____________ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9-10
This is the premier verbal witness. What is the person saying? Are they saying that Jesus Christ is Lord? Are they saying that Jesus Christ is Savior? Along with it, there are some other verbal testimonies that must be discerned.
--Verbal Testimony b--
For example, the Scriptures proclaim that there is only one way to be saved. We are saved by grace through faith in the finished work of Christ's sacrifice and resurrection from the dead. So if someone claims that receiving Christ's work by faith is not the only way God has supplied salvation to the lost, then that person is adhering to a false gospel that does not save anybody. Careful observation will also reveal that the majority of people that are trying to rely upon some other method to attain salvation will rarely have assurance that their salvation has been attained and guaranteed. In other words, they don't know for sure whether they are saved or not.
--Verbal Testimony c--
So, we need to ask them about it. Ask them whether they know for sure that they are spiritually saved. If they say no, then you have a problem. This is not someone to remotely consider for joining together to become one flesh in the Spirit. Instead, this is someone that needs to be evangelized, and evangelized from a distance. There are other signs to look for too. Look for fear, or confusion, toward their own relationship with God since they feel they will never be able to do enough to please Him. They are trying to make God love them. But God already loves everyone He elects. Works based justification is not the gospel, which leads to the next thing to listen for.
--Verbal Testimony d--
Look for subtle doctrines of hopelessness that usually require perfectionism, performance based righteousness, or the proclamation that one cannot truly know salvation has been attained until after death.
--Verbal Testimony e--
Other symptoms to look for are a strict, or even loose, adherence to Old Testament Laws, ordinances, rituals, and general legalism. Simply because someone seems intensely religious, and appears to have an upstanding moral character, does not mean that they are saved. It can be the result of adherence to codes of conduct. Spiritually dead cultic people, do all kinds of nice things. The point is that people can follow codes of conduct and not be saved; and they do all the time. Unsaved people can be nice. Unsaved people can also believe in so-called "intelligent design." They can look very religious, and in fact, they can use a lot of "Jesus" language as part of their ruse. These signs to look for may not prove that someone is not saved. But what I know is that these are the kinds of biblical signs to look for as we seek to discern the overall belief system of an individual. Remember, we are trying to identify the miracle, which means that we must be trying to be careful and discerning. Certainly, someone may be saved, and may be considered spiritual while practicing rituals, ordinances, and showing signs of legalism in his or her life. But we all need parameters for going through a thorough process for making a righteous judgment.
--Verbal Testimony f--
There is something else you can look for in someone's testimony: A lot can be discerned about someone's salvation status by their answer to two questions. It is one of my evangelistic methods that I like to use. Ask the potential mate:
A. "If you died right now, is your relationship with the Creator a relationship in which you will live a brand new life with Him forever in a beautiful place of happiness?"
After the first question is answered, ask this next one:
B. "Why?"
A regenerated person, which is a saved person, will answer the first question of eternal spiritual salvation with some form of "yes." Plus they will rely upon the grace gospel of Christ when answering the second question, which is the "why?" question. Someone who is unsaved will reveal somewhere in their total answer to "why?" that they believe that faith in the saving work of Jesus Christ is not enough. So this important witness is the witness of personal verbal testimony.
The other witness is the witness of personal actions. The Scriptures proclaim that sin is a master. According to Romans 6-8, everyone is a slave to sin before becoming regenerated. After becoming regenerated, they become the willing bond-slaves of God. This means that righteousness is their master, Romans 6:22.
--Actions 1--
The first witness we examined was referenced from Romans 10:9–10. In those same passages, Christ our Savior is also called our Lord. His title is translated from the Greek word kurios. Kurios means "master." So, we recognize that Jesus is our Master. This is important because some have supposed that Jesus is only Savior. The reality of the situation is simply this: Because Jesus' state of existence is both Lord and Savior, He is not one without being the other. To say that He is only one of those without being the other is some kind of weird modalism that does not reflect biblical Christianity. Instead, the Biblical reality is that Jesus Christ is the master who saves. And further, Jesus Christ is the Savior who leads His people as their master. This is what obedience to the gospel is in embracing Christ. To believe in Christ is obedience to Him in what He requires as Lord. The point is that being Lord is His state of being. He is not one without the other. The implications of this are the basis for the next point. A slave's relationship to his master is one of purposed obedience. Obedience requires personal action.
A saved person will act as though Jesus Christ is Master.
This does not mean that the person will do everything perfectly. It does not mean that saved people never sin. It means that saved people will try, by a Holy Spirit changed life, to obey the Master in their lives. This is how Christians manifest the life of Christ out of their hearts for daily living. When sin does ultimately occur--and it will--the true Christian will not be neutral concerning the sin. The true Christian will not be joyous concerning the sin. The true Christian will not be peaceful concerning the sin. Why? Because the inner knowledge of not obeying the Master will be made evident to him by the Master's Spirit which resides within. If there is no desire to obey Christ as Master; and if there is no conviction concerning sin, then the person is not saved. It is important to note here that the grace our Master gives in pardoning our sins is the same grace He gives in convicting us of our sins so that we will not be comfortable with them. It is the same grace that empowers us to turn from our sin in manifesting Christ out of ourselves by the indwelling Spirit.
--Actions 2--
Finally on evidences, lets examine something that involves both the witness of personal verbal testimony and the witness of personal actions.
It is called "the love witness"
The most beautifully recognized fruit of salvation is Christlike love. The Spirit tell us,
"God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." Romans 5:5
@6 God's _________________ has been poured into the hearts of all the people that he saves. Romans 5:5
Either God's love is there, or it isn't. The thing we are looking for is the manifestation. Manifestation means action. We read,
"We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death," 1 John 3:14
A true Christian will show forth the law of love God has written in his heart. If a person has what seems to be a love deficit, where it looks like they are having difficulty manifesting love, then that person is suspect. They may not be a Christian; and we're talking about marriage this morning. If they seemingly do not show love at all for the saved, or for the things of Christ, then they clearly demonstrate that they are lost. Even if a person shows something that seems like a love manifestation, but the person shows very little fruits of love actions toward Christians, then there is reason to suspect that a true life change has not occurred. Is the person unforgiving of the brothers and sisters in Christ where some sort of perceived transgression has occurred? In other words, does the person hold grudges in lack of love? Is the person slanderous? Do they put others down? Do they gossip and back stab? These things are not manifestations of love. Now, you might be thinking:
I know I am supposed to make a righteous judgment, but this is what worries me. What if I make a wrong judgment? What if my judgment is unrighteous?
First, let me assure you that you are not condemning the person to eternal destruction. That part is God's business. Instead you are trying to discern whether joining with such a person in covenant would be to join in an unequal bond. Also, let me remind you of what I said earlier. We have God's word, and we have our limits. We use Gods' word to the best of our abilities in trying to discern. Remember, this is a marriage issue, and it is better to be safe than sorry in this arena. Another thing to consider is that this is not so unusual as something we must try to do to be safe rather than sorry. For example, we are expected to judge the salvation status of anyone who desires to be an elder in the church. It is necessary. When it comes to someone claiming to be a pastor, we must make a decision concerning their salvation status. Likewise when it comes to potential spouses, you must make a decision which means that you must make a judgment. You must choose whether you think, to the best of your ability, based upon God's word, whether that person is a true believer, or not. This is where the spiritual leaders of the church body come in handy. God has pastors as pastors for guiding the flock. Like Christian parents should be an integral part of the discernment process in spouse selection, your pastor should be part of the process too. But let me put the question to you in a different way, which is the real way it should be asked.
Why would you worry about making a wrong discernment about the salvation status of a potential mate anyway?
I mean, think about having any confusion on the issue at all in the first place. Think about how absurd it is to pursue marriage with someone where there is even a remote doubt concerning their salvation. If the clear distinction is not readily recognizable, then it is best to walk away from that individual as even possibly being a consideration to join with until death do you part. If there is any doubt whatsoever, then do everything you can to get away from the relationship as one that could lead toward marriage. Christian parents, and conservative Bible believing pastors are biblical authorities that God has ordained to help in this area. The point is that we must try to discern these things to the best of our ability. To ignore it is foolishness that can lead to one of the most disastrous decisions you will ever make. What we have just covered, are ways to help discern whether or not someone is spiritually saved. Remember, a saved person is a right person. A right person is someone that we can be equally bound together with. This person is a right mate. With these things in mind, we must be aware of unrighteous judgments.
/3/
This leads us to the third point in choosing a right mate. It has to do with filtering fallacies that God has not ordained. In other words, there are a whole lot of categories that some people believe are Biblical standards for filtering out candidates for marriage, but they are not. Some of the reasons may seem logical. Many of them may be personal preferences which is fine as long as they stay in the "personal' category. But not all of them are biblical filters. What we are looking for in this foundational teaching is Biblical discernment. God uses personal preferences, but those are simply built upon the foundation. Therefor I am not teaching on personal preferences. What I am teaching are the biblically defined filters that give you the foundation as a New Covenant child of God. I am also pointing out that there are doctrinal stances in respect to other filters that are fallacies. I do not want to be taken wrong at the outset here, so let me make it even clearer. It is wise for Christian singles to have in mind a list of preferences for a potential mate. God uses these things too. Even having a prayer list of traits you are petitioning God for in a potential mate is a good thing; But, if one should desire to use such a list as a prayer guide, or filtering tool, then that person should realize that though God does sometimes give us the desires of our hearts as specified gifts, He also gives us the desire of His heart which is a desire that may not resemble what we previously imagined or desired. God often works that way; and we should not be surprised that He does. Let's cover some filters that are often wrongly considered to be law-like standards that are wrongly preached as God's preceptive mandates for differentiating between potential and non-potential mates.
(1)
One that seems to be dying away, yet you may be familiar with its remnants, is the racial filter. Bigotry is manifested in many ways. Unfortunately the racial filter is one of the more accepted manifestations of it--even among Christians. There is a biblical understanding of racial discrimination, so let's look at it to get wisdom in this area that transcends modern day racial filtering. In God's view of life, we are all conceived, and born, into the human race as images of the first Adam. This is how God describes us in His word. He also gives us a biblical understanding of ethnicity: The human race is comprised of various ethnic groups, or as the English translations explain in Revelation 5,
"...every tribe and tongue and people and nation." Revelation 5:9
The core commonality of all people is that all are conceived, and born, in the image of the first Adam. Many generations ago, God had Adam start us all out. He was the first father. Then, as history went along on it's course, everyone descended down from 8 of Adam's grandchildren who were delivered from the destruction of the world. Then, later on through history, God chose a man named Abraham to be the father of a group of people that were God's chosen covenant people among every tribe and tongue and people and nation. All the children from Abraham's son, Isaac, became this new ethnic group according to this covenant. God told this ethnic group not to intermarry with people from the other ethnic groups in the world, called gentiles. Then later through history, God ended that decree by establishing a new covenant with the human race through His Son, Jesus Christ. He is called the last Adam 1 Corinthians 15:45. All who are in Christ, whether Jew or Gentile, are now the "one new man," of God's miracle, Ephesians 2:14-15. This is where we are in history, and we have been in this aspect for over 2000 years. All of this is important to us for marriage filtering according to God. Following is the biblical understanding of the Christian race which are the people of the new and better eternal covenant:
You must be born again into the image of Christ to be part of it. It is also known as "the body of Christ" which is the elect race (Gk. genos), a set apart nation (Gk. ethnos), of the kingly priesthood, 1 Peter 2:9.
With these things in mind, God gives us a biblical understanding of ethnic discrimination within the body of Christ:
It is called division, and it is sin.
The true parameter of God, is that His people that have life according to the new covenant of God's Son are now told not to intermarry with people that remain within the image of the first Adam. To do so is to unequally yoke with spiritually dead people. But to marry another Christian from another tribe and tongue and people and nation that is different from your own, is called God's gifting. Biblically, if you are a blonde, fair skinned, blue-eyed Scandinavian kind of person in Christ who chooses to marry a brown-haired, brown-eyed, dark-skinned person in Christ, then you have married a wonderful gift from God. Both have married a wonderful gift from God. The marriage was made in heaven as are all Christian marriages between people of diverse cultural origins.
(2)
With this principle covered, there is another unbiblical filter we must be aware of. It is the "class filter." It comes in various packages. Each has a slightly different twist, but all have the common thread. Hindus call it the "caste system." Western societies may call it "class distinction." It is discrimination based on either someone's economic position, perceived social standing, family background, or a combination of these. Any kind of filtering process in which class distinction is used is only personal preference; but when it comes to trying to make it into a biblical principle, this filter is unbiblical. What generally motivates the use of this filter is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Those are the three worldly motivations mentioned in 1 John 2:16. Christians who make such hard class distinctions have learned to do so from the traditions of a sin-filled, sick, and dying, world. James rebuked those who would make class distinctions between people based on their material assets, and social status, in James 2:1–9. Paul encouraged the believers at Philippi to reject the elitist view that they were a better class than others by reversing the concept in their minds. He wrote to esteem one another to be better than one's own self Philippians 2:3. Our whole concept of the united body of Christ is distorted when we divide according to perceived class distinctions, whether for marriage, or for other reasons. A subtle sin of thinking in terms of superiors, and inferiors, numbs our minds to God's loving call on each Christian's life. This diminishes their true importance, and their true value, as one of God's true children in Christ in the "one new man." The best way to avoid this filter is to be honest with oneself about the truth that God sees us all according to God's class distinctions. In His class distinctions, we are all miserable sinners in need of His saving grace. Some have received His Son and are saved in spiritual life. Some have rejected His Son and remain lost, dead in their sins.
(3)
Another filter that may be wrongly heralded is the Age Difference Filter. Again, to hold to it is simply a personal preference. The Bible does not have a mandate from God that prohibits certain age differences between two people desiring marriage after they have reached the legal age for marriage. In fact, we find a wide variety of age contrasts of God's people being brought together in marriage in the Biblical record. Abraham and Sarah were ten years apart, Genesis 17:17. Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebecca (Genesis 25:20) and Rebecca was very young. We know that she was very young because of the Hebrew word used to describe her in Genesis 24:16. The word used is naarah, and it means "a female youth; usually a virgin." Some scholars place her as young as her early teens. Likewise, when we read the romantic history of Ruth and Boaz, we find out from Ruth 2:5 that Ruth was a young woman--a naarah. Boaz was an old man. God's word even explains to us that Boaz was impressed with the fact that this young girl would pursue him, an old man; so he commended her with a blessing when he said to her,
"You have not run after the younger men," Ruth 3:10
God may choose for a young man to marry a woman who is much older than he is. Likewise, God may do the same by bringing together a young woman with an older man. The age difference filter is really based upon personal preference considerations, or cultural mandates which implement principles of maturity. As in the other two filters we examined, this one should be considered in light of God's perspective.
The filtering fallacies I have just mentioned, are only a few examples of the many that one may encounter. If you come across other filters used to reject certain people for marriage, then make sure you check the scriptures to see if they are actually biblical filters or just someone's opinions. Personal opinions and preferences are fine, but call them that. Don't try to place your own standards on God.
These principles that I have covered this morning help us to figure out who a right mate is. They help us to proceed properly in our discernment processes toward making as right a judgment that we can based upon the facts available. Lets, briefly recap what we have covered for discerning who is really right: Someone who is right is someone God has made right through the redeeming work of Christ. Someone who is right is someone God has chosen. Personal faith is required to be right. It must be faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. We examined two witnesses. They are:
1. The Witness of Confession: Confessing Christ as Lord, and He alone is sufficient to save, as well as confession from the individual that these facts are true of that individual's own life.
2. The Witness of Personal Actions: The person acts as though Christ is Master of their life. Even though failures come, there will be a continuous desire and action to repent.
Look for the manifestation of Christlike love in the person's life. These are basic guidelines that are based upon Scripture. I want us all to think of this sermon as a basic tool for a foundational Christian approach that sticks with God's revelation. These things are meant to equip you. I urge you to use this information along with a Bible. God has placed Christian parents in their families to be part of His government in this discernment process. God has placed Pastors in the church to lead, and guide, as well. The bottom line is that discerning potential mates is vitally important in determining what God has joined together. I encourage you if you are single, or if you know of someone who is a Christian single contemplating marriage, to never allow yourself to compromise the Christian standards God has set when it comes to His people choosing the right mate.
1@ Christians are children of God because they have been _______________________ through Jesus Christ. Ephesians 1:4-5
2@ Christians are children of God (saved) through _________________ in the truth. Ephesians 1:4-5
3@ It is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the _______________ of God--not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-10
@4 Jesus Christ is _______ all who are saved. 2 Corinthians 13:5
@5 If you confess Jesus as ____________ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9-10
@6 God's _________________ has been poured into the hearts of all the people that he saves. Romans 5:5
